MARGAO: In Canacona and Salcete talukas, particularly in the coastal areas, drug addiction and the sale of ganja have emerged as serious concerns, evidenced by the recent spate of police raids targeting drug peddlers.
In the past week alone, Colva, Margao, and Canacona police have conducted three raids, resulting in the arrest of four individuals, including two foreign nationals, and the recovery of significant quantities of drugs.
Canacona police apprehended a Dutch and British national, seizing psychotropic drugs valued at around Rs 1.74 lakh from them.
Meanwhile, Margao police arrested 40-year-old Anand Harischandra Salgaonkar from Mandrem and confiscated 3.80 grams of MDMA, 18 Ecstasy tablets weighing 7.93 grams, 14.66 grams of charas, and 0.08 grams of LSD papers, collectively estimated to be worth Rs 2,71,000.
Most of the drug raids were concentrated in the vicinity of the Konkan Railway station area, emphasising the prevalence of drug trafficking in these locations.
In another incident, Colva police arrested Mohammed Mustafa Halageri Jamalasab Halageri, 26, a native of Haveri, Karnataka, with ganja weighing 1.080 kg, valued at around Rs 1,08,000.
A senior police officer noted that in 2023, South Goa police conducted 24 raids under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, with Margao police alone registering five cases, while Ponda, Vasco, and Colva each recorded three cases.
